The B-21 Raider has been designed to perform long-range conventional and nuclear missions for the US Air Force and to operate in "high-end threat environment".
B-21 Raider
The US Air Force released artist rendering of the B-21 Raider which is an "artist’s interpretation of the B-21 design."
The US Air Force shows the new B-21 Raider with Edwards Air Force Base, California in the background. The B-21 Raider will reportedly be tested by the 420th Flight Test Squadron based at Edwards Air Force base.
"Nuclear modernisation is a top priority for the Department of Defense and the Air Force, and B-21 is key to that plan,” Randall Walden, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director, said.
According to the US Air Force, it is set to incrementally replace the B-1 Lancer and the B-2 Spirit bombers with two bomber fleet of B-21s and modified B-52s.
B-21 program is on track to deliver B-21s to the first operational base, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in the mid-2020s, the report said.
(Photo Courtesy: US Air Force)
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B-21 Raider
The plane has been designed to perform long-range conventional and nuclear missions and to operate in "high end threat environment". The B-21 will be a visible and flexible component of the nuclear triad, the US Air Force said.
The B-21 is currently in the engineering and manufacturing development phase before authorities begin low rate initial production.
According to the US Air Force, critical design review conducted in 2018 had concluded the aircraft has a "mature" and "stable design".
The B-21 is intended to operate in both conventional and nuclear roles, with the capability of penetrating and surviving in advanced air defence environments.
(Photo Courtesy: Northrop Grumman)
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B-21 Raider
The "Raider" will be capable of operation by an onboard crew or piloted remotely. It is projected to enter service in the mid-2020s, building to an initial fleet of 100 aircraft with a projected average procurement unit cost of $550 million per plane.
The specific design remains classified, according to the Congressional Research(CRS) Service
B-21s will be based at Dyess Air Force Base(AFB), TX; Whiteman AFB, MO; and Ellsworth AFB, SD, with Ellsworth as the training base. The B-21 is one of the Air Force’s top three procurement priorities, according to a report
It has a large and flexible payload bay capable of carrying a full range of current and future armament.
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B-21 Raider
According to the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments(CBSA), low risk of air and missile attacks on theatre airbases would allow US Air Forces to maintain a high tempo of offensive operations.
The US military would continue to have an overwhelming advantage in many critical mission areas, including precision strike and electronic warfare, it said while adding that "competition between the United States and the revisionist governments of China and Russia has intensified over the last decade."
"China and Russia seek to erode regional and international norms to reshape the global order in their favor, in part by undermining the influence of the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region and in Europe respectively," the report added.
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China's ICBM
China is developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces, the US report said.
China's ICBMs have been designated a "threat" to the United States with the report stating that is set to grow to nearly 200 in the next five years.
The report said: "The PLA’s anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities are currently the most robust within the First Island Chain, although the PRC aims to strengthen its capabilities to reach farther into the Pacific Ocean."
China is also developing capability to deter and defeat "third-party intervention during a large-scale" campaign such as Taiwan, the US Department of Defence stated.
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B-21 Raider
The report said "a family of capabilities" is needed for counterair operations in highly contested areas. A future air superiority family of capabilities, including a multi-mission PCA/P-EA and other capabilities to support multi-domain counterair operations, will need increased range, lethality, and the ability to operate in contested and highly contested environments in order to deliver timely effects, it said.
The report recommended air superiority aircraft to have multi-spectral, multi-phenomenology sensor suites to support an organic capability to detect, track, and target threats in degraded communication environments.
Future air superiority platforms will require organic sensing systems and the ability to share and receive information with other aircraft and weapon systems, both inside and outside of the highly contested environment, the report added.
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B-21 Raider
Among its vital insights, the report said: "Successful targeting of most air-to-air and surface-to-air threats will require stand-in (penetrating) delivery platforms that can find, fix, track, target, and attack rapidly relocatable targets."
"A new delivery platform and effective kinetic weapons are needed for SEAD/DEAD operations in the highly contested environment."
"Non-penetrating bombers, 4th generation fighters, and UAS could be in high demand for conducting future standoff strikes and other operations," it said.
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B-21 Raider
The US Joint Force will need to engage some high-value surface-to-air, air-to-air, and air-to-ground threats in tens of seconds or a few minutes at most, it said, while noting that time to engage targets will be critical.
The report pointed out that hypersonic weapons will be in high demand in both theaters with non-penetrating aircraft carrying the long-range Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon now in development could supplement penetrating strikes and create a more complex defensive challenge for Russian and Chinese forces.
Russia and China could seek to degrade the space-based sensor networks of the United States and other militaries opposing their efforts to seize and occupy areas on their peripheries by force, the report warned.